A family mourns: Sister of Nashville boy, 13, shot in park calls him a hero who saved her life
Sixteen-year-old An'Raya Hayes wiped away tears with a wrist that was heavily bandaged and wrapped in a cast Wednesday as she called her brother Aayden the hero who saved her life.
Aayden Hayes, 13, was fatally shot May 29 at Red Caboose Park in Bellevue. An'Raya suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.
"If it wasn't for him, I really wouldn't be standing here right now," she said as community and family members looked on. They were part of a group that included more than 100 people gathered for a prayer vigil to celebrate Aayden's life at Red Caboose Park, where the boy was slain.
As the sun set Wednesday, the night sky was bathed in candlelight as "This Little Light of Mine" echoed throughout the West Nashville park.
Supporters wore shirts honoring Aayden while holding balloons adorned in favorite colors of blue, purple and red.
The trauma cut deep for those at the park, as An'Raya spoke for the first time after the shooting. Aayden was one of four teens shot in five days, and he is the 12th teen killed this year in the Nashville area.
"I think about that day every night before I go to sleep. And it's hard," An'Raya said. "I'm trying to do this for him. I know this is what he would want me to do. And I'm trying to live for him and keep his name.
"Everybody knows that he died for a purpose. He didn't deserve to die, but there was a reason he did, and we may not understand that, but God does. We just got to take this day-by-day and keep going. We got to keep going for him."
An'Raya's mother, Hope Leach, wearing a shirt that read R.I.P Aayden, buried her head in boyfriend Jonathan Shaw's shoulder as she cried. Briefly holding back tears, she said Aayden was so "sweet.
"You couldn't help but to love him if you knew him," Leach said. Every morning before school, the boy would come to her bedroom, give her a kiss and a hug and say "I'm going to go momma," she added.
"And every evening, after he got off the bus ... my room would be his first pitstop. He'd give me a hug and a kiss and ask me how my day was going, and (say) he loved me."
Shaw pleaded for the community to end gun violence as residents continued to reel from Aayden and the other teen shootings.
For the family, memories helped to console when the pain seemed almost overwhelming.
Aayden loved video games and football, his mother said.
"He just brought so much joy. My son was a joy to our lives," Leach said. "He was his sister's keeper. He loved his sister. They might have argued, but they loved each other so much. His brother told him take care of his sisters and that's what he did.
Nashville police said his sister made it to a fire station next to the park and was treated before being taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Aayden was also rushed to Vanderbilt, where he was pronounced dead from multiple gunshot wounds.
Metro police said they arrested a 15-year-old less than a half mile from the park and charged him with criminal homicide and attempted criminal homicide in connection with the Hayes case. The boy admitted to police that he had a gun and shot it during a fight in the park with other teens.
The Tennessean does not name juvenile suspects unless they are charged in adult court.
Metro Nashville Public Schools Student Support Services will provide grief counseling for school communities directly impacted by Hayes' death at Promising Scholars summer school sites, according to Sean Braisted, a spokesperson with the district.
Bellevue Middle School Principal Seth Swihart said in a statement that Hayes just completed eighth grade at the school.
"Aayden had many friends and was a kind and caring student who was easy to like and get along with. Our heart breaks for his family, friends, and for this community who have lost a young person to gun violence," Swihart said in the statement.
Reach reporter Craig Shoup by email at cshoup@gannett.com and on X @Craig_Shoup. To support his work, sign up for a digital subscription to www.tennessean.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Sister of slain Nashville boy, 13, calls him a hero who saved her
